Net Worth Percentile Calculator

[W2R]

Just for fun, I also entered my net worth at its low during the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

In doing so I received much less of an ego massage than when entering a 2014 net worth.

 

[RetiredAndFree]

There is an interesting blog post with more detail on the Fed vs IRS data arguments here:

How Much Money Does It Take To Be In The Top 1% of Wealth and Net Worth in the United States

According to the above blog, we are 'average small town millionaires' which is exactly what we feel like. Nothing to toot our horns about, but much to be thankful for.

 

[imoldernu]

An interesting look at the chart...

Our net worth (household, as are the numbers in the calculator) is exactly the same as it as it was when we retired, at age 53. When we put the same $$$ net worth numbers in the chart as: age 53 to age 85, and age 79 to age 85...
our position on the chart (the percent) is almost exactly the same... within 2%.

Have to think this one through... a matter of inflation and ROI? Nowhere near the top 1%, but comfortably in the second quintile according to Fed charts.

As an aside...In poking around for some more definitive comparative information, I came across this paragraph from the year 2000. The amounts of wealth coming from inheritance seem surprisingly low.

According to a study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, only 1.6% of Americans receive $100,000 or more in inheritance. Another 1.1% receive $50,000 to $100,000. On the other hand, 91.9% receive nothing (Kotlikoff & Gokhale, 2000).

 

[MooreBonds]

As an aside...In poking around for some more definitive comparative information, I came across this paragraph from the year 2000. The amounts of wealth coming from inheritance seem surprisingly low.

According to a study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, only 1.6% of Americans receive $100,000 or more in inheritance. Another 1.1% receive $50,000 to $100,000. On the other hand, 91.9% receive nothing (Kotlikoff & Gokhale, 2000).

If you assume many of the top 10% are married, with an average of 2.2 children per couple, and each of those has an average of 2 children, that makes roughly 2 children and 4 grandchildren for every top 10% estate, or 6 people for everyone in the top 10% of assets.

If, say, 4% of the top 10% die in any given year, that means .4% of Americans pass on that are in the top 10% of assets. Multiply the 0.4% by 6 people in the immediate family, that gives you 2.4% of Americans that would receive inheritance from the top 10% in any given year.

So if that's your 'biggest case' scenario, that would kind of make sense and fit the data, assuming most wealth goes to the children (vs the grandchildren), as well as perhaps not being easy to track the passing of assets (as many assets may be in a trust or other vehicle that could have already transferred ownership prior to death). And add in charitable bequests, and that would whittle down the % and/or average inheritance a little more, too.